Court composers working for the Medicis in 16th-century Florence were expected to think big, and no one set their sights higher than Alessandro Striggio. Born in Mantua around 1536, he became something of a musical propagandist for the regime, touring his ambitious choral works around Europe as a kind of composer-cum-diplomat in the hope that their acoustical magnificence would sway hearts and minds in his bosses’ favour. The pièce de résistance was his monumental Missa Sopra Ecco Sì Beato Giorno, a mass setting for 40 to 60 voices, rediscovered in 2005 having been lost for 400 years.
Striggio’s mass was the centrepiece of this imaginative concert recreating the kind of liturgical event visitors to late Renaissance Florence might have been lucky enough to catch. Opening with theatrical flair, instrumentalists and singers filed on stage to a plainchant in praise of the Virgin Mary. The shift from salty medieval harmonies to the opulent warmth of Orazio Benevolo’s Laetatus Sum signalled the riches to come.
Le Concert Spirituel, founded by Hervé Niquet in 1987, has form in this repertoire, having made an outstanding recording of much of this music. That said, it was surely a misstep for the musicians to perform in a closed circle on the Royal Albert Hall stage. While doubtless radio-friendly, with only a quarter of the singers facing out and another quarter presenting their backs to most of the audience, not only did balance become an issue, it was hard not to feel shut out of what should have been an immersive experience.
Music in 40 parts can be exposing for individual voices. Nevertheless, the Striggio worked its magic, especially in the supersized Agnus Dei and the flamboyant Osanna in Excelsis where voices tumbled over each other with joyful abandon. Even better were the Benevolo works, including a superb Magnificat where verses were interspersed with instrumental ensembles. Palestrina motets played on sackbuts, a practice typical of the time, lent a touch of authenticity, and there were some choice rarities, including Domenico Massenzio’s frisky female-voice Filiae Jerusalem. A 40-part Striggio motet rounded off the evening with a sumptuous anticipation of paradise.
• Listen again on BBC Sounds until 12 October. The Proms continue until 13 September.
